Sundance

MILES WARREN'S SHORT FILM BRUISER

WORLD PREMIERES

Tickets are selling quickly, so make sure you’re scooping up seats to your must-see films—the earlier, the better.

Ailey (10:00 a.m. MT) | This beautifully documented film tells of the Black experience—using poetry through movement—and the story of Alvin Ailey’s contribution to dance. The film interweaves Ailey’s astonishing life story with intimate glimpses into the studios of the company today. “Making this film has been an honor and privilege. My collaborators and I have been nourished by the beauty of Ailey’s work, by his sense of possibility, by his humanist vision and his tenacity and determination,” says director Jamila Wignot in her Meet the Artist video. —Roxanne Bergener

Coming Home in the Dark (10:00 a.m. MT) | Writer-director James Ashcroft brings us his first feature, Coming Home in the Dark. “Take a perfect moment with your family and nature and find those places are also shared by people who are sinister and have different intentions. When those two groups collide and go on a road trip, it turns into a nightmare,” Ashcroft told us in his Meet the Artist video. Hoaggie (Erik Thomson), Jill (Miriama McDowell), and their two teenage boys find their perfect moment in the New Zealand wilderness turning into their worst nightmare. Mandrake (Daniel Gillies) is a troubled soul trying to unpack the sins of the past, inflicting terror and horrific acts of violence. —Roxanne Bergener

Passing (4:00 p.m. MT) | Rebecca Hall has built an impressive career in front of the camera, appearing in films like The Prestige, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, and Christine. Now for her directorial debut, Hall uses the rich source material of Nella Larsen’s book Passing to craft a nuanced and haunting psychological thriller set during the Harlem Renaissance. In an interview with Deadline, Hall describes Larsen’s novel as “an astonishing book about two women struggling not just with what it meant to be black in America in 1929, but with gender conventions, the performance of femininity, the institution of marriage, the responsibilities of motherhood, and the ways in which all of those forces intersect.” Hall adds, “I came across the novel at a time when I was trying to reckon creatively with some of my personal family history and the mystery surrounding my biracial grandfather on my American mother’s side. In part, making this film is an exploration of that history, to which I’ve never really had access.” —Margaret Andersen

The Sparks Brothers (3:00 p.m. MT) | If people only knew how to take humor seriously, says Flea, the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist, the band Sparks would have been BIG. The dancing, singing brother named Russell, with his leading-man looks and a voice that at times sounds Freddie Mercuryish, and the nimble lyricist brother, Ron, looming over the keyboard with his Chaplin mustache and a vaguely menacing glare, might have been as famous as John and Paul, or Mick and Keith. The story of the musical Mael brothers—“the best British band to come out of America”—is told in the documentary The Sparks Brothers, premiering today. Director Edgar Wright, of Shaun of the Dead fame, complements the Maels’ quirky humor with his own, showcasing this band’s broad influence and indefatigable spirit. —Vanessa Zimmer

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (10:00 a.m. MT) | In the late 1960s, a team of writers, educators, and performers conceived an unprecedented project—a television show seeking to educate children instead of market to them. The realization of that vision exceeded everyone’s expectations. Tune in to the long-awaited world premiere of Street Gang, directed by Marilyn Agrelo, for a look at the backstage humor and moments of unbridled joy—along with some heartbreak and hurdles—that were part of the process of creating an icon. Catch a glimpse of Caroll Spinney walking by in Big Bird legs; hear a snatch of uncensored banter from Oscar the Grouch. A wealth of interviews gives insight into how the team, led by Joan Ganz Cooney, Jon Stone, and Jim Henson, went beyond the ABCs to instill the values of inclusion, resilience, and everyday wonder into millions of American children over the course of the next 50 years. —Amy Stewart

* * *

EXPLORER PASS PICKS

With an Explorer Pass, U.S. audiences have access to our full Indie Series, Short Film, and New Frontier sections during the 2021 Festival. International audiences can use it to unlock all of Indie Series and New Frontier. (Note: All screenings can only be viewed once. Once you start your screening, you’ll have four hours to finish it. You can pause the film, but you must resume watching it before the four-hour window closes.)

Bruiser (all day) | After his father gets into a fight at a bowling alley, Darious begins to investigate the limitations of his own manhood. | Shorts

Nightsss (all day) | An erotic poem combines animated landscapes, character choreography, and rhythmic ASMR sonic structure to immerse the participant in a sensorial experience of poetry, dance, and nature. Based on Weronika Lewandowska’s spoken word poem, Nightsss uses sounds characteristic of the Polish language to create onomatopoeic landscapes that cross language barriers. Before putting on your headset, slip into your favorite shirt and turn on a fan to vitalize the emotional and sensorial flow. | New Frontier

Seeds of Deceit (all day) | Prior to his death in 2017, Jan Karbaat was the most renowned fertility doctor in the Netherlands. As his patients’ offspring began connecting the dots of their ancestry, a disturbing story emerged about a man who secretly used his own semen to impregnate more than 65 of his patients. | Indie Series

* * * 

TODAY’S BIG EVENTS

In our Festival Village, you’ll find a wide range of free events from sunrise to sunset. Everything we’ve listed below is free and open to the public—all you’ll need to do to attend is create a free account on this online screening platform; then click the links below to join us come showtime.

The Sundance Dailies (9:00 a.m. MT) | Your guided tour through the festival’s myriad of happenings, The Sundance Dailies takes place live each morning with host Tabitha Jackson, special correspondent John Cooper, and a delicious assortment of special guests. Bring your own coffee for an informal, unmissable start to the day, packed with all you need to know about the Festival.

Cinema Café: Rita Moreno and Sonia Manzano (10:30 a.m. MT) | The doors are open again at Cinema Café. Here, the culture of conversation is reinvigorated. Our series of informal chats brings together special guests for thought-provoking encounters.

The Big Conversation: Barbed Wire Kisses Redux (1:00 p.m. MT) | The year 1992 was a watershed one for LGBTQ+ film, giving birth to the term “New Queer Cinema” and introducing a revolutionary generation of films and filmmakers with energetic irreverence and disruptive aesthetics. At the 1992 Sundance Film Festival, B. Ruby Rich convened and moderated a panel of preeminent artists to discuss their work and the historic moment of its emergence. This year, Rich and other LGBTQ+ titans gather 30 years later to look back and imagine forward in this contemporary edition of Barbed Wire Kisses.

The Big Conversation: The Story of Us (6:00 p.m. MT) | Legal scholar and civil rights advocate Kimberlé W. Crenshaw moderates a conversation including Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Viet Thanh Nguyen, Princeton University Professor Ruha Benjamin and Yale University professor David W. Blight, about the construction, dissemination and deployment of the grand narrative of the United States, and the critical role of independent media in its retelling.

Conjuring the Collective Womxn at Sundance Speakeasy (8:00 p.m. MT) | Join us for an evening of dynamic performance and energizing conversation. Continuing our tradition of gathering and celebrating the womxn in our Festival community, this year’s event will reclaim the idea of a coven as a source of magic, healing, and power. We’ve devised a virtual speakeasy featuring performances from an array of talented womxn from the Festival and beyond, honoring a multiplicity of perspectives through our myths and stories, dance, art, music, and culture. 

* * *

SATELLITE SCREEN SPOTLIGHT

This year, the Sundance Film Festival is excited and grateful to collaborate with our Satellite Screens: a constellation of 28 mission-driven arthouse cinemas, arts organizations, and festivals across the country. See the full list of free events and offerings here, or check our blog for a thematically curated list.

All in the Family: Fathers and Daughters (all Festival) | In the 1980s, the Sheridan and George families shared the exile experience and the American dream living as Irish immigrants in the Bronx and Hell’s Kitchen, New York. On this panel, two generations of Sheridan and George filmmakers reflect on father/daughter collaboration, sexism, and ageism in the film industry; baby boomer versus millennial cultural differences; independent filmmakers working in Hollywood; and the rapid evolution of cinema over their three decades in the business. | Presented by Tropic Cinema

Black Visuality and Solidarity in Oceania (11:00 a.m. MT) | How do we visualize Black identity in Hawaiʻi and Oceania? Scholars and artists consider how Oceania opens up new possibilities for visualizing and understanding Black identity beyond the continental U.S. and Atlantic discourse. | Presented by HOMA with the Pōpolo Project

Vision and Purpose: A Conversation with Adele Romanski (11:00 a.m. MT) | Academy Award and Golden Globe–winning producer Adele Romanski (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk) sits down in The Green Room to discuss the tools you need to make films you are proud of. | Presented by the Roxie